Indicating that all 18 crew members in the ill-fated submarine INS Sindhurakshak have died, Defence Minister AK Antony on Thursday said treating it as a "special case", compensation would be given to their families.

"I will ask the Navy to treat the incident as a special case," he said in Rajya Sabha. Antony was responding to a question whether the families of crew members, whose body could not be found so far, would be eligible for compensation as the existing law prescribes a seven-year wait.

The Defence Minister said eight bodies could be recovered till date, though in all probability, all the 18 have died. Bodies of the eight had been sent to Naval hospital in Mumbai for postmortem.

"Death certificates of eight bodies cite extensive burns as the cause of death," he said. Antony said Navy is in touch with the families of the crew members on daily basis to provide help, assistance, support and counselling.